The time-honored way of showing love in an Italian family is to offer food. Whether we're celebrating, mourning, happy, sad--if we're breathing, there's a table filled with great things to eat. Life's too short, so eat what you love and love what you eat.

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Finding a portable brunch dish isn't always easy. Certain foods dry out when reheated; others require lots of "on site" prep work. So when I was surfing through the blogosphere looking for something that would be easy to put together, would feed at least 12 people, and wouldn't have to be reheated or assembled on site, I came across this hearty casserole from Taste of Home. I read through some 90+ reviews and thought about what some of the negative reviewers had to say and amended the recipe as follows.

In a large skillet, cook the bacon,, sausage, and onion until bacon is almost crisp; drain oil

In a large bowl, combined the remaining ingredients.

Butter a 9 X 13 inch deep baking dish. Transfer mixture to the dish and bake, uncovered, for 45 - 55 minutes or until a knife inserted near center comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting or spooning out.

N.I. 1 serving: 273 cal; 18g fat; 8g carb; 1 g fiber; 18 g protein

**************************************************

TASTE NOTES

I let the casserole cool for 5 minutes, then loaded it into one of those insulated bags they sell at the grocery store. Forty-five minutes later, it was still piping hot. While the incidental heat did cook it a little more, it was still gooey and delicious. I will definitely make this one dish brunch again.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Last year I became a convert. After years of turning up my nose at chili, I found a chili that was more than some ground beef and beans with overpowering spices. I've been waiting for the weather to turn cooler so that I could make up a big pot and decided to repost the recipe with a somewhat improved photograph.

In a large skillet, brown ground beef and sausage, drain, and place in a slow cooker. In the same skillet, add the onion, pepper, and celery and saute 5-8 minutes. Add to the meat mixture, then stir in the diced tomatoes and run the whole tomatoes through a food mill and add to the mix. Add cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, beans and chili seasoning (taste and add salt, if needed). Set the slow cooker to low heat and cook 6-8 hours. Serve garnished with shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream.

**************************************************************TASTE NOTESThe flavor of this chili, which is wonderful to begin with, only improves the next day. I like to eat my chili with a piece of homemade cornbread and have at least 3 additional meals waiting in the freezer.

Monday, October 14, 2013

A few weeks ago I tasted a piece of coffee cake at a guild meeting and I couldn't get that taste out of my head. Although I was promised the recipe at our next meeting, I decided to conduct an online search to see if I could find something like it. I think I hit paydirt with this recipe from Taste of Home. With a few tweaks of my own, here is the recipe:

*******************************************************TASTE NOTES
I am 99% certain that this is the recipe for the coffeecake made by my fellow guild member. It is exceptionally moist with just the right amount of topping. I think it tastes very buttery, more than just a "half stick's worth." I will have to put it out of sight and/or freeze some of it because it is way too tempting.

Monday, October 7, 2013

I've been in a rut lately, cooking the same "old favorites" over and over again. While I do have my tried and true chicken preparations, I felt like eating something a bit different. So, instead of using boneless, skinless thighs, which are my "go to" part of the bird, I decided to use a whole chicken, skin, bones, and all.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Season the chicken pieces on both sides with salt and paprika. Heat an ovenproof skillet* (at least 12 inche) over medium heat and swirl in oil. Working in 2 batches, add chicken to pan and cook until browned (2-4 minutes on each side). Transfer chicken to a plate as it is browned.

Reduce heat to low and add the garlic and tomato paste, scraping up browned bits with a wooden spoon. Return chicken to the skillet, increase the heat to high, and pour in the vinegar. Boil, stirring, until liquid is reduced to a glaze. Turn chicken pieces to coat all over.

Stir in broth and bring to a boil. Add the peppers and olives. Transfer to oven and braise for 25 minutes (until a thermometer inserted into thickest part of breast reaches 160 degrees and liquid is reduced by half. Garnish with parsley.

*I wrap my nonstick skillet's handle in aluminim foil and it works fine
******************************************************************************TASTE NOTES
Chicken on the bone almost always tastes far better than boneless, skinless pieces of the bird do (and that's even when you take the skin off before eating). This dish smelled wonderful and tasted even better. My only regret was that I couldn't dunk an entire loaf of garlic bread into the wonderful sauce. The sauce is very thin, but could be thickened at the very end with a simple slurry. I had planned to use leftovers to make a soup, but I'm having second thoughts and may just eat it as is.